Chartiers Valley runner LaQuatra motivated by photo finish

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 1, 2017 | 12:36 AM

In the final desperate yards of the 2016 WPIAL cross country championship, Elise LaQuatra knew she had to make a move.

LaQuatra, then a junior at Chartiers Valley, could sense she was close to qualifying for the PIAA Class AAA meet, but she needed to move up a few places and she was running out of turf on the Cooper's Lake course. LaQuatra said she remembers passing at least three runners in the home stretch.

Still, she wanted to pass one more competitor: Baldwin freshman Angela Valotta.

She made a last-ditch effort, but she and Valotta crossed the finish line at the same time and tied for 27th place — the final PIAA qualifying spot. LaQuatra went back to the team bus to change her shoes, not knowing her fate. Then coach Lori Poe found her and told her there had been a video review.

Valotta, the cameras showed, edged LaQuatra by a razor-thin margin.

Poe told LaQuatra she had a choice.

“I said, ‘This is going to make you or break you,'” Poe said. “She has a great attitude about it. A lot of kids could have crumbled … but she's definitely taken a positive from it.”

LaQuatra said she was, understandably, upset at first. But a change of attitude wasn't long in coming.

“I had a really good race,” she said. “I congratulated the girl. Yeah, I was disappointed, but my team and my coaches encouraged me and said I had a good race, so that's all I needed to hear.”

LaQuatra entered the offseason with a singular purpose: to improve her training so she could pass that final runner if the opportunity presents itself again.

A few factors, Poe said, should work in LaQuatra's favor. She intensified her training in the offseason, including running indoor track, something Poe said she had not done before.

That, Poe said, will be key to improving her speed for the finishing kick.

“Her nemesis is sprinting,” Poe said. “She's a very talented runner. It's just a matter of connecting the dots.”

The return of Kiki Thornton to the team also has helped. Thornton was the Colts' No. 1 runner two seasons ago — she placed 29th at the '15 WPIAL Class AAA meet, and LaQuatra finished 36th — but chose not to run in 2016.

Thornton and LaQuatra, Poe said, should jockey for the top spot on the team throughout the season. The tough competition in Section 6-AAA also will push LaQuatra.

She said her training has given her confidence.

“I think this season I've felt better because I feel like I'm in better shape than I have been,” she said.

Her aspirations, however, go beyond herself. The Colts have been close to cracking the top 10 in the WPIAL team competition the past two seasons, and LaQuatra said they want to get there — and beyond.

“Our girls team has really been thinking about placing top five in the WPIAL,” she said. “We really want to push into that this year. We really think we can have a good season.”

Chartiers Valley opens the cross country season Thursday, the first step on LaQuatra's road to the PIAA meet — a road she hopes will have a picture-perfect ending and not another photo finish.

Chuck Curti is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at ccurti@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CCurti_Trib.

Tags: Chartiers Valley